Services

Punjab: Service length for doctors pursuing PG courses cut

TNN | Updated: Jul 11, 2019, 12:07 IST

Image used for representational purpose

BATHINDA: To prepare specialist doctors, Punjab health department has decided to reduce the required service length for government doctors to pursue postgraduate courses. Punjab health and FAMILY welfare minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said this in Fazilka on Wednesday. He was speaking to mediapersons after presiding over a district grievance redress committee meeting. Sidhu said the eligibility criteria for government doctors to pursue PG courses had been cut by 50% as earlier the government doctors had to render four to six years of government service before turning eligible for pursuing PG courses and now this limit had been reduced to two to three years. The health minister also said in order to fulfil the acute shortage of specialist doctors, Punjab government has decided to rehire retired doctors up to the age of 65 years. He said these specialist doctors would be deputed in the field to serve people and they would not be deputed on administrative posts. By doing so the state health department would soon get services of 400 specialists in near future, said Sidhu.

He further said the primary focus of the department was to ensure that patients must get 250 basic medicines in the hospitals and they do not have to buy these from the private drug stores. Reiterating Punjab government’s resolve to provide the health services to the people at their doorstep, 2,950 health wellness centres are being opened in the state and of these 843 have started functioning. Fazilka MLA Davinder Singh Ghubaya, Fazilka DC Manpreet Singh Chhatwal and SSP Deepak Hilori accompanied the minister.